Why did Jack Pickford almost kill himself in 1920 on an American-bound ocean liner?
Pickford brought Thomas’ body back to the United States. Several accounts state Pickford tried to commit suicide en route, but was talked out of it. According to Mary Pickford’s autobiography Sunshine and Shadows, “Jack crossed the ocean with Ollie’s body. It wasn’t until several years later that he confessed to Mother how one night during the voyage back he put on his trousers and jacket over his pajamas, went up on deck, and was climbing over the rail when something inside him said: ‘You can’t do this to your mother and sisters. It would be a cowardly act.
